Lake Pflugerville Drowning Victim Identified

PFLUGERVILLE, TX — The woman who drowned while kayaking at Lake Pflugerville last weekend has been identified, officials said on Monday.

The drowning victim was identified as Puja Thapa. She was 23 years old.

Police received a call just before 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 9, about a potential drowning at Lake Pflugerville. As severe weather swept through the region, the woman was swept away into deeper water, police said in a previous press advisory.

Emergency crews had hoped to rescue Thapa before deeming their efforts as being centered on recovery of a body. Three days after the launch was searched, dive teams recovered her body.

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The incident marked the second time in a year that a person drowned at Lake Pflugerville, a man-made reservoir. On May 9, 2018, police were notified a swimmer went missing while missing about 50 feet from the north shore of the lake. The body of the victim, a man in his 20s, was recovered three days later.

The incident also is the second drowning in an area lake this week. Emergency crews on Monday were searching for the body of a man who went missing at Lake Travis the previous evening, officials said. The Travis County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from the Rough Hollow area of Lake Travis at 7:30 p.m. on June 16, officials said in a press advisory. Witnesses reported a 70-year-old man had last been seen in the water without a life jacket.